<p>My mom believes that astrology accurately explains some aspects of human personality. </p>
<p>I told her that the stars are now in a different position. </p>
<p>I told her that horoscopes apply equally to everybody, as they are designed to do. </p>
<p>I told her that it makes no sense to believe that people two thousand years ago were able to accurately guess correctly on this matter, when they didn't even know what stars were. </p>
<p>She said, "Whatever. I believe in it."</p>
<p>I am so embarrassed. I have no idea how this can be true. I... NOOOOO!!!~!</p>
<p>my mom likes it too. it is a big deal when she meets someone who has her astrology symbol. she doesn’t know what the symbols mean though so she doesn’t try to explain people’s personality traits with them thankfully (she only uses them to explain why someone is compatible or not compatible with her after she finds out whether they are or not, and whether their symbol is the same as hers or not).</p>
<p>humans like pattern things than explain stuff.</p>
<p>I personally try not to judge people based simply on their beliefs. </p>
<p>If a person practiced Hinduism, I’d be ok with it.
If a person was bi or gay, I’d be ok with it.
If a person were a Republican, I’d be ok with it. </p>
<p>And if a person believed in astrology, I’d be ok with it also. It’s their life. They can believe in whatever pleases them. As long as they are not harming society in any significant way, I see no reason to be frustrated with them believing in it.</p>
<p>It’s a comforting belief. It might be irrational, but believing it provides a sense of security. </p>
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<p>Embarrassed? At what, the incongruence between your irrational mother and you - the “bastion of reason”? </p>
<p>Aren’t we high schoolers all irrational beings? In our endless search for comrades and confidants, often of the opposite gender, aren’t we being irrational? Why do we make ourselves vulnerable to heartbreak when we could just avoid the precipitous drops altogether? </p>
<p>With every drop there is a peak. Perhaps we live not for the falls but for the zeniths. Or perhaps, we are biologically programmed to do what we do. We don’t consciously choose to; we only abide by actions burned into our brain - actions that have helped the propagation of the human species. </p>
<p>Or, perhaps, we simply have emotional needs. For you and me, these emotional needs may be compounded with physical wants. For your mom, perhaps she yearns for a sense of predictability. Tying one’s emotions and actions to the heavenly bodies is perhaps more comforting than entertaining the possibility that we are fastened on a roller coaster - with no tracks.</p>
<p>While your mother may be irrational on one level, JimboSteve, perhaps your mom is rational on another level. </p>
<p>Perhaps she believes in her irrational belief to keep her overall self rational. It is not the means, but the end that counts, and her end is just being emotionally satisfied, which thereby allows her to be a functional member of society and a loving mother.</p>
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<p>I <3 people who read my posts and reply :).</p>
<p>I always think of the ancient Egyptians, who created a polytheistic system to justify the patterns of the Nile River. </p>
<p>When the Nile floods, people are displaced and killed, and property is destroyed, but the River leaves rich deposits of silt, which aids farming. </p>
<p>The Egyptians would pray for the seasonal floods. They would offer gifts to the Gods for floods. </p>
<p>And when the floods didn’t come, they would blame it on themselves. Perhaps they didn’t pray hard enough. Sacrifice enough. </p>
<p>There seems to be an intrinsic need to explain phenomena.</p>
<p>I think my mom likes it mostly because it’s something to relate with people you meet about. like birthdays, or whatever. but i also notice she uses it to reinforce why she likes someone (if she shares there symbol) or why she doesn’t get along with someone (if they have antagonistic symbols).</p>
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<p>honestly science is super confusing, and most of the people who promote it seem to promote it because it’s cool to them, not because they understand how it got some of the cool results it did.</p>
<p>so what if people say there’s lots of evidence for evolution. why should i trust them? people lie about tons of things.even people i’m supposed to be able to trust. and plus, when i try to read about the arguments for evolution they go over my head.</p>
<p>everyone says the new genetic evidence shows so simply how connected we are and how we evolved from each other, so i actually don’t need to get any of dawin’s arguments. but they never explain how they got the evidence, so i’m still stumped. how exactly did we look at everything’s DNA. and what is DNA. it’s too much. i either have to trust it on faith or remain skeptical.</p>
<p>You should consider explaining to your mother the concept of confirmation bias ;). That is, if you want to rob her of the emotional security astrology provides (just kidding).</p>
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<p>Not to mention that science doesn’t always provide satisfying explanations for phenomena. </p>
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<p>I suggest a semester of AP Biology. </p>
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<p>This reminds of the concept of a “leap of faith,” in which we believe in something we have no empirical evidence for. Kierkegaard argues that to live a fulfilling life, one should take this perverse leap and blindly trust God. Perhaps you would be interested in further reading on this concept.</p>
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<p>What, exactly, do you believe to be absolutely true? I’m interested.</p>
<p>This cavalier attitude is generally essential in practice, but I care too much about my family to disregard their thoughts and consider their beliefs irrelevant.</p>
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<p>I don’t know… how about, because it’s not true? Because it’s insulting to the human capacity for knowledge? Because it’s yet another arbitrary dividing factor constructed by charlatans out of a plethora of false stereotypes? Because I don’t like it when my family members are taken in by frauds? Nah. </p>
<p>For the record, bisexuality, homosexuality, and heterosexuality aren’t beliefs. Depending on who you ask, they’re either intrinsic characteristics or patterns of action.</p>
<p>People believe in different things. It doesn’t mater if you just say it’s not true, because they could just retort you with the same argument. “It’s not true.” </p>
<p>Although it is harder when family members have different beliefs.</p>
<p>Close enough, though I take issue with your connotation.</p>
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<p>Then I suggest she read an Astronomy book. Or at least a Jungian psychology book. At least MBTI distinctions are self-diagnosed. </p>
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<p>On the contrary, actions such as those are often very rational, given a moral and emotional vacuum. </p>
<p>There’s a place for rationality and a place for feeling. Rationality can test truth claims against evidence. It can ensure internal consistency. It cannot operate in such a way as to produce fundamental moral axioms. </p>
<p>You’re jumbling these things up. </p>
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<p>I do not want the people I care about to be blissfully ignorant idiots. I want them to be able to face reality, as it is, in the best way that they can. There is no real substitute. There is nothing that is more fundamentally satisfying. Astrology is a needless hinderance to this ultimate satisfaction. Selling fundamental satisfaction for false predictability is never a good deal.</p>
<p>to be fair, there is really no way you could know this unless you have felt a belief in astrology akin to how your mom feels, you don’t know who is more satisfied.</p>
<p>Lol my writing style has been rubbing off on someone.</p>
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<p>Some people are bigoted because of life experiences. Deeply engrained prejudices due to former encounters and experiences.</p>
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<p>I don’t really like classifying people by race because race is a social construct, rather than a biological fact. In fact, those whom we label as “black,” are, on average, 20% white. And many of those whom we label as “black” are phylogenetically closely related to white populations -more so than even some white populations. </p>
<p>Shoehorning people into neat categories on a personal basis circumscribes them. I judge people as individuals. I don’t judge individuals on the basis of their “race,” because one, they didn’t choose their race, two, race is a vague construct at best, and three, many people fall into multiple racial categories, making classification all the more difficult, and that’s not mentioning the fact that classification is meaningless in the first place. </p>
<p>Justice Clarence Thomas sums it up well: “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.” Ayn Rand also speaks on the issue of race; “Racism claims that the content of a man’s mind (not his cognitive apparatus, but its content) is inherited; that a man’s convictions, values and character are determined before he is born.” </p>
<p>I would like to see a “human” bubble on the Common App this year.</p>
<p>I applaud you for doing so. My post wasn’t intended as a rebuttal to yours on the race issue; rather, it was an expansion on the interesting point you made about wanting to be simply considered a human, and nothing more.</p>
unless you have felt a belief in astrology akin to how your mom feels, you don’t know who is more satisfied.</p>